“…the team made an extraordinary discovery: A long-buried computer file contained an unpublished devotional by Elliot called Heart of God: 31 Days to Discover God’s Love for You. The book is scheduled for release this September by DaySpring.” - CToday

“An atheist American can look at the shared humanity of the unborn child and believe it is just and wise to extend legal protections to recognize its immense worth and value. My friend and former National Review colleague Charles C.W. Cooke is an atheist, and he wrote powerfully last year to explain why he’s pro-life.” - David French

“The EPPC Family Almanac offers 83 little glimpses into what American families look like, and the circumstances they face. As more and more red-blooded populists and well-credentialed eggheads start developing ideas for family policy, these facts and figures are ready to help make sure the discussion is grounded in reality.” - IFS

“Among Generation Z, Millennials and Generation X Christians whose personal commitment to Christ is still important in their life today, fewer than a third are described as practicing Christians, a descriptor that includes at least monthly church attendance.” - BPNews

“The Particular Baptists published the confession to distance themselves from the errors and heresies of Thomas Collier…. Though 2LCF was born into this controversy, it was crafted in the spirit of Christ’s prayer for unity. We can see this in three ways.” - TGC

On Religion Is Dying? Don’t Believe It by Byron R. Johnson and Jeff Levin: “The two authors, along with Matt Bradshaw and Rodney Stark, provide some fascinating, if not convincing, research that suggests religious institutions, particularly inclusive of Christian congregations, are thriving.” - Church Answers

Read the series.

Looking Deeper into the Problems with Covenant Theology (1)

We have arrived now at the point where I can turn my attention to a full-on critique of Covenant Theology. In doing so I want to remind my reader of what I wrote in Part Twelve of this series, where I recorded my very real appreciation for CT even as a dissenter from its tenets. But we are in a position now to record that dissent more plainly and categorically.

Before beginning, however, I will provide Vos’s summary quotation.:

“Non-Christian religious groups have relatively small sample sizes, large margins of error in our typical surveys” - Pew

“more than half of U.S. Protestant pastors believe comfort (67%), control or security (56%), money (55%) and approval (51%) are idols that have significant influence on their congregations” - Lifeway

“What does it all mean? How does a federal investigation of a senior official work, and what happens next? Plus: some possible theories and explanations that might shed some light on the events of yesterday.” - The Dispatch Podcast

Related: FBI Executes Search Warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago; Christian Leaders React - C.Leaders

“Marshall Blalock, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., will serve as ARITF chair and Mike Keahbone, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lawton, Okla., will be vice chair. Others making up the task force are…” - C.Leaders

by Paul Miles

Mythological hermeneutics is a growing threat to evangelicalism today. The notion is that Genesis does not give a literal account of human origins, but is a monotheistic rearrangement of pagan texts from the Ancient Near East and therefore is subject to error. If this accusation were coming only from atheists or even progressive Christians, it would be unfortunate; but mythological hermeneutics is infiltrating evangelicalism, so we need to equip ourselves with responses.

A Test: Who Said It?

It may be difficult to believe that such a liberal idea could threaten evangelicals, since we are known for defending Biblical inerrancy, so here is a test.

“…it looks like nondenominational congregations are increasing by taking in people who were raised Catholic—which is about a quarter of the general population. At the same time, more and more young people are being raised in nondenominational churches” - CToday

“…the feminist paradigm has quite successfully framed Christianity and the Church as misogynist, patriarchal, and harmful for women…. reframes pagan religions and cultures as being pro-woman, at least until Christianity gained prominence. This narrative, however, doesn’t match the historical realities.” - Breakpoint

“…some reasons pastors don’t pray. We’re “fixers” by nature….We’ve had no role model prayer warriors….We’re afraid to tell anyone when we struggle with prayer….We have so much to do” - Chuck Lawless

“If I was the world’s only Christian, or the world’s only kind of Christian, I would have good reason to question my faith….But it’s beautifully and wonderfully true that our God is the God of all kinds of people and that he is building a kingdom of young and old, great and poor, black and white, wise and simple, famous and unknown.” - Challies

“In this polarized moment, strong legislation isn’t a substitute for wise and discerning leaders.” - Hannah Anderson

“Although Millennials (and, emerging behind them, Gen Z) are known for declines in religiosity, data show that, since 2019, the percentage of Millennials reporting weekly church attendance has increased from 21 percent to 39 percent.” - Barna

Another study: Millennials adopt digital worship, but not at the expense of IRL faith - RNS

“I understand the alarm that my fellow believers feel as we find ourselves increasingly out-of-step…. At the same time, I think this faith in a more muscular government, particularly when it comes to punishing and restraining speech, is misguided for at least three related reasons.” - Providence

“I don’t think we can deny that government has authority to make regulations to protect life. In fact, it is a significant purpose of government.” - Don Johnson

“I think it is possible to speculate responsibly, especially about the future Heaven, in that the resurrection of people and the resurrection of the earth itself suggests many things that may well be possible on the New Earth. But no one should claim them with certainty.” - Randy Alcorn

“Baptists do believe that humanly speaking, you are certainly free to believe whatever you wish. However, you do not have the right to believe, or disbelieve, anything you choose and still call yourself a Southern Baptist.” - Richard Land

“So where do church money ‘gimmicks’ fit in? They don’t. But that hasn’t stopped leaders from using them as shortcuts to true discipleship. Here are four of the most common that I’ve witnessed” - C.Leaders

I moved on from our recent, very brief Facebook exchange, thinking it would never come to mind again. I thought, “He’s not even trying, why bother?”

But it keeps circling back. You made me think about how my beliefs might look from your point of view, and you asked a couple of questions that deserve answers.

I’ve decided this, though: I’m not going to try to answer your questions in the messy, more-heat-than-light environment of social media. Instead, a friendly open letter.

One disclaimer: I’m not good at finding things on Facebook once they’re no longer in my face. So I’m answering what I remember as the gist of your questions.

“Moore has demonstrated, time and again, the courage to express his convictions and the integrity to live by them. Sometimes this has meant contending for essential biblical and theological truths in the public square. Sometimes it has meant declaring truths to the church that challenge and convict us.” - CToday

“Based on data from the Baylor survey… Adult men and women who attended religious services at least weekly at age 12 were more likely to report that they were currently ‘very happy,’…and less likely to indicate that they were frequently bored, when compared to those who attended less frequently or not at all.” - IFS

“Pascal was a pioneer in the psychology of persuasion. …Lead people to the answer, but let them discover it on their own. ‘People are generally better persuaded by reasons they have themselves discovered than by those from the minds of others.’” - Breakpoint

“I don’t often think about those days I served on the Council. During a recent vacation in Yosemite National Park, however, Ken and I noticed that everywhere we went, the paths were paved and marked with access symbols. I was pleasantly surprised to discover miles of trails I could wander.” - Joni Eareckson Tada

“This parable reminds us that it is a sin to squander what God has given us. He has given us three main resources: time, treasure, and talent, and all three work together for the flourishing of the world, for the flourishing of ourselves, and for the glory of God.” - IFWE

Read the series.

Cybersecurity is a subject about which I know almost nothing, and would certainly never give advice.

Yet this is an issue that affects all of us—in our communications, finances, and now, especially, ministries.

So, along with many other people, I am dependent upon the expertise, advice and assistance of those who really live within this realm of technology.

I am thankful, especially, for the help of Steven Lee, the founder of SermonAudio, who visited with me in a video that is posted to SermonAudio.com/pscharf.